


Cold

by orangeCrates



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Cannibalism, M/M, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 05:55:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13207410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangeCrates/pseuds/orangeCrates
Summary: Lucy Stillman is asked to take on  a case to defend four men accused of willfully eating three children while trapped in the mountains. Always up for a challenge, she accepts.





	Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Round 8 of the Fire Safety Prompts (only 100 years late!): The trial of four adults who are accused of willfully eating X number children after they were trapped/starving. One claims the children were already dead but evidence exists to prove not only were the kids alive but the adults were not trapped...

Desmond saw all sorts come into the bar. There were people who came to celebrate, the ones who were using this bar as one stop of many on their bar-hopping adventure, and the ones that were here to forget.

He set the drink down in front of the woman with the blonde hair. "You're the lawyer...the one from the trial with the baby eaters?"

The woman's smile was reflexive like a flinch. "Yes, that's me." She ran her finger around the edge of her glass before picking it up to take a sip. "have you been following the trial?"

"Isn't everybody?" Desmond said. "You really got them off the hook. No one thought you could do it."

She shrugged with a laugh and her hands tightened on the glass. "I did, didn't I?" Then, "shit."

It didn't sound like nerves or pride, but something more shaken so Desmond asked, "want to talk about it?"

* * *

Cannibalism upset people. It made sense: eating each other was what animals did and people did hate to be associated with what was thought of as less evolved members of the kingdom.

Worse yet, the accused were four adults who ate _children_.

The country was in an _uproar_ by the time the case had landed on Lucy's desk.

The accused were four men, two of them were brothers and two were, according to some sources, dating.

And one of them, was the heir to some big fortune. His mother was the one who came to her, with deeply sad eyes, asking her to take on this case. She was dressed in sensible, business attire that was precisely cut and fitted for her body.

The mother explained the story this way:

_They were trapped after the bus they were on fell off the road and down the mountain side. They did what they could for the children, but without access to a medical centre--well. There was nothing else they could do...and they were trapped with no safe way off the mountain. My child and his friends had to make some...terrible choices, choices no one should have to make, in order to survive. Will you take this case, Ms. Stillman?_

And, unable to say no to the challenge, Lucy accepted.

* * *

"So the mother was the one who asked you to take the case?" Desmond asked.

"Yeah." Lucy said.

"Did any of the other's family come to you?"

Lcuy sipped her drink. "No. I didn't really hear from any of them. I think one of them was disowned, actually."

"For what?" Desmond asked.

"For being homosexual."

* * *

Malik Al-Sayf had a naturally dour looking face, all sharp angled and uncompromising.

He had bags in his eyes as he sat with his shoulders hunched. Lucy knew he had lost his left arm in an accident that happened years ago so she was prepared not to stare when he walked in.

His expression was pinched as he sat down in front of her to talk. His voice was clipped as he recounted the events like he just wanted to get to all the key points and be finished.

_I was there with my brother and my...boyfriend. Pardon me, I thought you would have read our files already...Kadar is my brother. Altair and I have been dating for a while now. Can I go back to what happened that day now? I don't know. One moment the bus was going around the bend and next we knew we were rolling down the side of the mountain. I was worried Kadar was hurt...he wanted one of the window seats. Altair was right beside me so I wasn't so worried. It didn't occur to me to worry about the other people on the bus or the driver until after. I--I don't think I'll ever forget the smell. It was terrible. The other adults were dead but the children seemed to be hanging on, we thought if we carried them out then we could help them. We couldn't though. We couldn't even help ourselves let alone--we had no choice. we're not proud of what we did, but with no way out and the children...they were already dead and I--I couldn't lose them too._

His hand had been gripping what was left of his left arm and he sounded so _raw_ and hurt and Lucy wondered what terrible memories had been shaken loose in that moment.

* * *

"He was the one who was...sort of polite-rude, right?"

Lucy smiled into her glass. "Polite-rude?"

"You know," Desmond said, "the one who didn't say anything wrong but seemed to be..." He trailed off and gestured that like explained anything. But Lucy had been there, had met the man so she nodded.

"I know what you mean."

Their conversation fell into a lull.

"So. He was disowned? Did he tell you that?"

Lucy shook her head. "He wasn't really big on talking about himself. I heard a bit from the younger brother though."

* * *

Kadar Al-Sayf was the opposite of his brother. He had a softness about him that had little to do with any physical feature and more to do with his smile, all anxious and shy. It made him seem like a small animal, wounded and scared. 

His hands were constantly in motion, wringing his hands or pulling at his sleeves as he rambled.

_I was the one who convinced Malik to go. He never wants to go anywhere and I thought it'd be...nice. I mean, our parents used to take us on these family trips and even though I'm not asking for them to come back into our lives--I think Malik would forgive them if they asked, if they really were sorry, but I'm not sure if I--I'm sorry, that's off topic isn't it? But I miss it, you know? Just going somewhere as a family. I recruited Altair to help because my brother is so stubborn. So we're on the bus and it's...honestly, I expected a bigger bus? But it wasn't bad. Roomy. And you know, my brother was sitting with his boyfriend so I was sitting with Taylor. You know, one of the--one of the kids. I'm sorry, I just...he wanted to a baker, you know? Said he saved his own allowance to buy himself one of those Easy Bake ovens and well. I just feel so bad for him a-and the other kids, too. I wish we could have saved him. I remember carrying Taylor out of that bus and--I'm not religious but I was praying that he'd make it._

_And then we--I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can't...please give me a moment._

He was _crying_ and not quietly but full out sobbing. Lucy had put a hand on his shoulder, patting his back and telling him it was going to be okay.

It was hard to understand what he was saying but she was fairly sure he was saying, _if going to jail would bring them back I'd volunteer to let them lock me up. I'd fucking volunteer._

* * *

"Christ." Desmond said.

"Yeah." Lucy said and pushed at her empty glass. "Can I have another one?"

There was a quick, _sure_ and Lucy waited to get more alcohol (this was the sort of night where she just did not want to be sober).

"I try not to bring any personal feelings into my job, but I felt so bad for him when he started crying."

Desmond handed her the drink. "I think that's normal. I mean, the guy seemed like he was ready to fall to pieces in the videos and pictures."

"Did you see the one where he was on the stand?"

Desmond shook his head, "Nah. It was on but one of the customers wanted to change the channel."

Which, Lucy thought, was reasonable. "I think one of the jurors was nearly in tears."

"But," Desmond said when Lucy just stared at her glass morosely, "what about the boyfriend? What was--Altair...?"

Lucy chortled. "Your pronunciation is terrible."

"Hey, at least I'm trying."

"You want a star for that?" Was paired with a roll of Lucy's eyes. "The boyfriend was...well, he was different, I'll give you that."

* * *

Altair Ibn-La'Ahad was the one person out of the four where Lucy genuinely felt could very well be guilty. He sat with a loose sort of posture that seemed at one arrogant and careless. He greeted her with civility but not much else. And Lucy might have thought he was a statue or some sort of robot if not for that split second when she opened the door and saw him sitting with Malik leaning against his side, their heads ducked close together in a show of intimacy that disappeared as soon as he saw her looking.

Still, he gave almost the same account:

_The bus rolled off the side of the mountain. The driver was dead on impact. Of the passengers only us and the three children had survived...though the children were all mortally wounded. We would have gone to an emergency centre, but there was a snowstorm and we thought it would be safer to find shelter. We were trapped and the children were dying from their wounds one after another. Even after the storm, there was way we were going to make it before we starved. We did what we had to._

But there was no emotion--no remorse or shame and Lucy told him she needed something to work with. Something that would convince the jury that if they had had a difference choice they wouldn't have--

He looked at her and Lucy drew herself up (his stare was unnerving. She would later advise him to not look directly at anyone during the trial).

Finally, what he told her was:

_I have two sons from a previous marriage. My wife and I are on good terms so we get together quite often. Malik is especially fond of my younger son. He's about the age of the little girl, Helen, I think it was? If it were them, on that bus--I wouldn't have stopped until the people that did it were left to rot in jail. It wouldn't matter if they were already dead or they had done their best to prevent it. I wouldn't stop until there was justice._

Lucy had told him it was a start and looked down to take notes instead of meeting his eyes.

* * *

Desmond was grimacing. "Dude sounds intense."

"As I said: he was different." Lucy tossed back her drink. "Another one?"

"You sure that's a good idea?" Desmond asked as he took her glass.

"Can't hurt." She said.

"Is the next person really that bad?" Because it felt like she was bracing herself when she took the drink from him.

"He..." She trailed off, running the tip of her finger over the glass's rim. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

* * *

The fourth defendant was the only one not related to the other three: Ezio Auditore, the son of the woman who had come to her asking her to take on the case.

He had the sort of handsome face that looked like it belonged on a magazine and a smile that was hard to dislike, hollow though it was at the moment.

_Thank you Ms. Stillman, for taking on our case. I feel safer already, knowing we are in your capable hands. Where would you like me to begin...? What happened to the children? I see. It is a difficult thing you ask me to recount...you see, one of the children was my little brother. He was often unwell but he loved being outside. I took him along on this trip as a little treat...we did not expect the storm or for the car that came towards us, forcing us to have to swerve. We ended up falling over the side of the road. My brother...did not make it to the cave. The other two, I think one was a boy...Taylor, I believe? Kadar had carried the boy and the other...I apologize, I forget who had the other one. I was stricken by grief and the whole walk to the cave we finally took shelter in is a blur. We managed to find wood and start a fire but...there was no food to be found in the cold. I had thought we could last without, but--_

_My brother, he was always so little, so frail. I would have given my life for his, but he was gone and I could not--I could not deprive my mother of two sons._

What Lucy remembered best about that conversation, were the tears in Ezio's eyes, the genuine regret in his expression that could have broken any heart that was there to witness it.

* * *

"I remember he looked close to tears...honestly, I think we could have won the case just from his testimony alone." Lucy swirled the ice at the bottom of her glass around. "He just looked so heartbroken, you know?"

"And being handsome to boot probably helped." It was a tactless sort of joke that might have gone over badly but it made Lucy chuckle.

"That too." But she seemed to sober up a moment later. "You know, when I listened to him talk I really felt sorry for him."

* * *

But when Lucy sat down with all their testimonies and all the evidence, something seemed off.

The driver had definitely died though out in that cold who could say when? He had died, still strapped down by his seat belt when a piece of metal had pierced his chest.

The other adults, the parents of the two other children had died on the bus (Helen's father from a broken neck and the other two women from, presumably, internal bleeding). It was difficult to find signs of foul play especially since the bus had then caught on fire, leaving everyone to burn.

The children's bones had been picked clean though there were no obvious signs of trauma. Everything checked out, apart from the moral implications of cannibalism there was nothing to indicate the men weren't telling the truth.

Except, they the man who was driving the car that nearly hit the bus. And he had said, _I was trying to pass another car--I wasn't trying to cause an accident. I saw the bus swerve, but I swear it didn't go off the side. It hit the rail but it didn't fall off. I was scared so I floored it and left, but I swear the bus was still on the road when I left!_

(But the man had simply disappeared before the trial and no one could find him.)


End file.
